Bradley Walsh on the return of Law & Order: UK

BRADLEY Walsh and the team return for a new series of Law & Order: UK

Often Bradley Walsh is at the centre of the fun, but enhancing the levity levels this series is the addition to the cast of stand-up comedian Ben Bailey Smith

Although the eighth series of Law & Order: UK features a string of gruesome cases for the cops to solve and lawyers to prosecute, the atmosphere is light between takes of the ITV cop drama. On the show’s set in a warehouse complex in Chertsey, Surrey, which features an entire mocked-up courtroom, the sound of laughter can be heard above the din of moving cameras and crew members delivering instructions. Often Bradley Walsh is at the centre of the fun, but enhancing the levity levels this series is the addition to the cast of stand-up comedian Ben Bailey Smith.

Bailey Smith, 36, is also known as the rapper and comedian Doc Brown, and as an actor has appeared in Rev. and Miranda. Following the exit from Law & Order of Paul Nicholls as DS Sam Casey, Bailey Smith has joined as thrusting newcomer DS Joe Hawkins.

Bradley Walsh, a comedy performer himself, appreciates the lightness his co-star brings to set. “What’s brilliant about the new addition of Ben is that he’s got a great sense of humour because he comes from the stand-up arena,” explains Bradley, 53, who plays seasoned gumshoe DS Ronnie Brooks. “Also, his character is very streetwise, so he comes up with some great quips about modern society.”

Ben, the younger brother of novelist Zadie Smith, has a lot in common with DS Hawkins, a high-flyer within the Metropolitan Police who devotes his spare time to working with young offenders.

“That speaks to me because, coincidentally, I worked with young offenders for a long time before I got into acting,” explains Ben. “Doing musical workshops with 17 and 18 year olds who’d done time for knife crime was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done.

“Those are the kind of things that Joe Hawkins has been through and excelled at and I’ve definitely experienced them. I could put them into the role,” he adds.

The hard-hitting ITV cop drama, based on the US warhorse of the same name, devotes the first half of each episode to the cops solving a murder case and the second half to the lawyers prosecuting the case. Alongside Bradley and Ben is Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph as DI Wes Layton, and returning to play CPS lawyers are Peter Davison as CPS Director Henry Sharpe and Dominic Rowan and Georgia Taylor as prosecutors Jacob Thorne and Kate Barker.

The first episode sees Brooks and Hawkins investigate the grisly death of a jeweller, Harry Bernstein – they are perplexed when it’s revealed that his hands and teeth have been removed. When the victim’s appendages turn up in a parcel posted to a woman, the reason behind his murder becomes clear, and the case echoes a previous investigation of Ronnie’s.

Bradley Walsh as DS Ronnie Brooks [ITV]

“We are pushed from pillar to post to find out why they have chopped up the victim and taken his teeth,. It’s harrowing,” explains Bradley.

Over at the fictional CPS, ex-Corrie and Casualty star Georgia Taylor is back in her wig and gown for her second series as Kate Barker.

At the end of the last series, Kate had got into trouble with her bosses after allowing her heart to rule her head over a case, and colluding with a defence barrister to get a vulnerable woman off a murder charge. She’s regained the trust of her colleagues and says she and Thorne complement each other.

“I think she’s got a more human side and relies on intuition that often proves to be right,” explains Georgia, 34. “Jake is a bit more considered: they rub along quite nicely, until a case comes up where she does something that could get her fired.”

While the lawyers may clash over procedures and ethics, off-screen Georgia and her co-star Dominic are not arguing points of law. Just like their cop cohorts, when the cameras aren’t rolling they’re having fun. “Dom cracks me up and I’m always trying to make him laugh,” says Georgia. “Between scenes in court we play hangman, which, given the characters we’re playing, is slightly ironic.”